Inborn Tendencies
by McSquidster
Summary: It was well known that in the most dire times of need, guardian angels would be sent to watch over mankind. These angels could chase away nightmares, bring about fated encounters, and even turn the worst of days around for the better. They were all that was good in the world. Somehow, Lucy got stuck with a guardian demon instead.


True evil was, above all other things, seductive.

But Lucy didn't know that yet.

She was nearly as good as they came, save for her touch of vanity when it came to her appearance and her desperation for money, if only so she could make it through life with some semblance of stability. She was also developing an affinity for profanity, though that was more from hanging around the rowdy people she called her friends rather than being a trait she'd developed on her own.

But all of that could easily be overlooked when her heart and personality were taken into consideration. Giving to and helping others was a habit of hers, despite her own meager living situation. She had a heart that was ready to take on the world, both in terms of compassion and resilience. And her determination was practically unmatched, her devotion to the people and things she loved paving her path and guiding her actions.

A girl like her, one that was pure and always had the best intentions, would _never_ fall into temptation. Anyone who knew her well enough would've said the only way she'd embrace sin, the only way she'd turn dark, was if it was for someone she loved.

* * *

"You're never gonna believe what I found this morning," Lucy hissed as she slammed the object on the counter in front of her best friend.

Uncharacteristically, the blonde was feeling more than a bit pessimistic today.

The signs had been growing more and more glaring with each day until this morning, when one had quite literally smacked her in the face. Or, more accurately, she'd face-planted into it, but when it was her face solidly smashing against something else, she wasn't too concerned with what term was used. All she cared about was the pain and the absurdity of what she'd opened her eyes to when she'd recovered after tripping on her way out the door that morning.

It was a fucking bronze coin, worth only one jewel, just sitting there on the cobblestone street in front of her home, all bright and shiny in the rising sun.

And it was the seventh one she'd found like that in the past eleven days. She was pretty damn sure that it was in the _exact _same spot as the last six, too.

She'd heard the preachers in front of churches and on random street corners, and she'd heard the stories everyone told.

She knew _exactly _what finding those coins meant.

And it really pissed her off.

In the wake of the slam of her palm, the expression of the boy behind the counter stayed blank save for the quirking of a single brow. His gaze jumped between the coin she'd slapped down and her face a few times before he confusedly questioned, "What? Is…is this it?"

Lucy leaned forward to emphasize her point as she sharply enunciated, "It's a fucking copper coin, Gray."

"Wow…" he breathed out in a monotone voice, "…never seen one of those before."

She rolled her eyes before sliding her hands across the smooth surface of the chest-high counter to grip the edge on his side and lean even closer, pulling herself up onto the balls of her feet to attain minimum proximity to him, "When I found it, it was facing heads up." She lifted her brows at the end of the phrase, like that fact alone should've been more than enough to explain why she was acting the way she was.

But he was still just staring at her blankly, his fingers toying with the knot of the navy neckerchief of his uniform.

"And it's the seventh one in the last eleven days!"

He shrugged, "You're just really lucky?"

"It's supposed to be a _sign_, Gray," she drug the word out for emphasis.

"A sign of what?"

"My _guardian angel,_" she accented the last two words with a mocking wiggle of her fingers as her upper body retreated back to her side of the counter. "I've seen seven rainbows in the past two and half weeks, and yesterday, there was this cloud right in perfect view from my apartment window, and it was _shaped like a wing._"

The blonde pursed her lips and shook her head as she folded her arms over her chest, thinking of other 'signs' as she grumbled, "I'm telling you, if I find a fucking feather…"

Gray hunched down to rest his elbow on the counter before setting his chin atop his hand as he snorted, "Remind me to tell Elfman to keep his parakeet away from you."

That remark earned him a glare and a little humph.

He let out a heavy breath, rolling his eyes as he tried to shift the topic, "Look, can I get you anything to eat? Or did you just come in here to be moody?"

Her glare persisted for a moment more before she sighed and mumbled through her pursed lips, "Just get me the usual."

"Of course," he pulled back from over the counter, snatching a brown paper baggie from beside the cashier before strolling down the counter to pull a pudding-filled pastry from its allotted tray behind the glass case.

Lucy stayed back by the cashier while he used tongs to put her breakfast in the baggie, a little pout still stuck on her face as her eyes followed him.

She was still bitter about the whole coin thing, but her thoughts shifted in the direction they always did whenever she was in the bakery, which was nearly every morning.

Whenever she looked at Gray behind the counter, in his white shirt and blue neckerchief, she thought about how he really didn't fit with the whole bakery setting. He'd always been good with his hands, but she'd never thought they'd be put to use by frosting Danishes and strudels. She'd always assumed that he worked at the pastry shop just because his family owned it, and that he'd leave to find something more suited to his rugged personality once they graduated high school, just as she had. Yet she'd returned to the small town in the mountains after her first semester of college to find him in the same place he'd always been: behind that wood counter, which he stood well above now, unlike when he'd first started working there.

She wouldn't go as far as saying she thought he stayed because he was content with where he was, but she knew that he didn't necessarily want to venture out into the unknown, either.

That was why they were such good friends.

They'd been fairly close since they first met in elementary school, but it was through a certain shared characteristic that they'd become especially attached. They never really talked at length about why they feared leaving their secluded, little town to find their true place in the world just as all of their other friends had. They were pretty much the only ones that had stayed behind, both hoping that the familiarity of the town where they'd been born would return some of the peace that'd been stolen from them.

When she'd first left Magnolia for college, Lucy had planned on never coming back, or at least she'd only return to visit, never to stay. It was the town where she'd lost her mother and it was where she'd lived under her father's neglect for years. But it was also home to some of her fondest memories and friends, and although only one of those friends remained here, it was still the only place she felt comfortable after what had happened to her in Crocus.

The swinging door on the other side of the counter squeaked as it was pushed open, and a ponytail of long, dark purple, nearly black hair swished about as the woman that emerged from the kitchen hurried to relieve herself of her charge.

Her features molded into a soft smile when she saw the blonde, setting one of the trays of freshly baked pastries she'd been balancing in her arms in its rightful place in the glass display as she greeted, "Hey, Lucy."

"Hi, Ultear," the blonde smiled back.

"Anything exciting happen at the bookstore lately?"

Lucy pursed her lips and shook her head as she thought about her current place of employment, "Not really. We never get too busy, so I'm pretty much just getting paid to read the books I'm supposed to be selling."

Gray snorted, now pulling a bottle of the blonde's favorite chocolate milk from the refrigerator at the far end of the counter, "Hiring the town's biggest bookworm was probably the worst decision Freed ever made. He's probably lost half of his business because you don't have to buy books to read them anymore."

Lucy rolled her eyes, "I think Levy's the rightful owner of the title 'biggest bookworm in town.'"

"She can't be the biggest bookworm in town if she doesn't live here anymore," Gray bantered.

The blonde stuck her tongue out at him once more.

"And now that I think about it, since Levy left, Freed's probably lost the other half of his business, too," he added as he brushed past his sister. Well, they weren't real siblings, but Lucy knew that they'd been through enough together to feel like real brother and sister.

"There's loads of people who still like reading books," the blonde countered. "There's this new guy that just moved into town with this face tattoo, and he comes in at least twice a week. Then there's this couple who brings in their little girl to pick out a book every now and then. And there's this cute little old guy that comes in to visit every once in a while, too. He spends most of his time talking to me instead of looking at books, but he always takes at least one home with him."

"Wow, that was, like...five people. Sounds exciting," Gray sarcastically remarked as he slid the pastry and milk across the counter towards the blonde.

"It is," she affirmed. "Unlike you, I actually like talking to and getting to know my customers."

He shrugged, "I used to be a people person, but then people ruined it."

"That's why you're never gonna get married," Ultear interjected from where she'd finished organizing the newly added trays.

"It's not like you're doing any better," he snapped back.

The siblings glared at each other for a moment before Ultear turned her focus to the blonde, giving her a small smile as she headed back to work, "I'll see you later, Lucy."

"Bye!" the blonde called out as she disappeared back through the door to the kitchen.

Lucy let out a sigh as just she and Gray were left at the counter again.

Normally, she would've been in and out of there in under a few minutes, but business seemed to be a bit slow today despite the bakery being the best spot in town to grab a quick a breakfast, and she didn't have to be at the bookshop for another hour. So she allowed herself to stay a little bit longer, pulling her pastry out of its bag and taking a bite of one of the fluffy edges, mumbling around the baked good as she asked, "Gray…will you tell me about your guardian angel again?"

He let out a heavy sigh, "Lucy, I've already told you how this whole thing works, so-"

"I know, I know. People always forget the details afterwards and all you remember is that it happened," her gaze fell to the counter. He was completely justified in not answering, especially considering what he'd been going through when he'd needed a heavenly companion.

"I just…I'm kind of scared, you know?" she carried on. "I guess having a constant companion would be a comfort to some, but I'm not sure how I feel about the whole thing." She lifted her focus back to Gray's, "What if he's a dick?"

He tsked, "Well, given the fact that he, or she, is an angel, I'd say the chances of that are pretty small."

Almost as if she hadn't heard him, Lucy kept listing her concerns, "And I really don't think that I _need _a guardian angel right now. But if I do, then what does that mean? What's gonna happen to me?"

Seeing that usual tactic of sarcasm wasn't doing anything to make her feel better, Gray decided that maybe he should actually try to help her out. He shrugged, "Numbers normally mean something. You said there were seven coins and seven rainbows. That number have any significance?"

Her expression grew even more troubled, and she seemed a bit hesitant before she finally started, "There's…more than just the coins and the rainbows. I've been waking up right at seven everyday this past week. And my phone's rang at exactly seven p.m. a few times, too...I picked it up the first few times, and there was just silence on the other line."

"That's…" he stared at her with furrowed brows, "actually kind of creepy." He suddenly went tense, his expression going dark, "You sure you don't have some sort of stalker?"

She shook her head, "It's never the same phone number...I looked up what the number seven symbolizes, and…I just…don't get it. It said something about my life aligning with my divine purpose."

Lucy had no idea what that meant. Her divine purpose? She didn't think she was anyone significant, at least nowhere near significant to have some sort of heavenly calling.

And she'd already been through what she hoped would be the most intense trauma of her life, and during that time, and during her mother's death, too, she hadn't had a guardian angel at her side to comfort and lead her. She'd always made it through her trials by her own means. But if her own determination wasn't going to be enough and she was in need of a heavenly helper, then what was coming? How could it possibly be worse than what she'd already been through?

"Look," Gray let out a heavy sigh, obviously picking up on her distress, "If all this really does mean that your guardian angel is coming and times are going to get tough, whatever happens, you don't have be afraid. You'll have someone watching out for you. Always."

Lucy stared at him with a slight pout on her features, her worries starting to dissipate, if only a small fraction. Gray rarely got all serious and comforting, so his words really meant a lot.

"And you've got me here, too." His gentle expression dropped in an instant and he was back to his usual self, "Unless you keep eating the pastry that you haven't paid for. Then I might ditch you."

She stared at him in gratitude for a moment more before she straightened herself out and reached into her bag for her wallet, a small smile on her face, "Sorry. How much do I owe you?" The number of times she'd paid for her usual pastry and milk combo were countless, but times were hard, and sometimes the local bakery had to up the prices.

"Well," he grabbed the copper coin that was still on the counter, "I'll take this for starters. The rest comes up to..." As Gray finished entering her items into the register, his face went blank.

"What? What is it?" Lucy questioned.

He looked hesitant to respond, and even as he did, he seemed afraid of how she was going to react, "Your total is seven hundred and seventy-seven jewel."

* * *

That night, Lucy had the worst nightmare of her life.

It was _so _vivid; so _real_.

There was unbearable, scorching heat eating away at her flesh. It was strongest on her chest, directly over her heart, and from there, it spread out, simmering her skin and melting away at her body.

All that heat, and yet, there was no light. Black enclosed her on all sides, so dark that she couldn't see a thing. And yet she subconsciously knew that that blackness stretched on for forever, the thought of what could be waiting out there in the dark crawling into her thoughts and sending shivers down her spine.

And to make things even more horrifying, she wasn't the only one screaming in agony.

There was another voice shrieking in chorus with hers, one that was deeper and male. It wasn't one that she knew, but the pain in it was more than apparent.

Lucy had never had a dream so horrifying, nor had she had one so lucid and penetrating that she felt like it was the only thing she'd ever known and would know; that it was her fate to suffer in eternal, blazing darkness.

* * *

The brightness of the sun was what woke Lucy from her sleep. It shone through her window, streaming directly on top of her eyelids and dragging her consciousness from the realm of slumber.

She let out a groan, the second thing she processed after the light being that it was _hot. _But the heat was just extremely uncomfortable, not painful like it had been in her dream.

She went to throw the covers off of herself only to find that they were already off.

With her eyes still closed against the light, Lucy furrowed her brows. It was nearing the end of fall and winter would be upon them in only a few weeks. It'd been _months_ since they'd had heat like this. Had the heating system in her apartment building malfunctioned? That was the only explanation her groggy, newly awakened mind could come up with.

The third thing she processed, after the light and the heat, was that the skin over her right collar bone burned like hell. The pain was what finally motivated her to sit up, her fingers curling around the collar of her shirt to tug it down so she could get a look at the offended area.

But her fingers paused just as they wrapped around the hem, something else catching her gaze as she finally sat up and peeled her eyes open.

Her sheets were pink, yet the only color she could see as she looked down her bed was white.

There were feathers everywhere. And not the tiny, fluffy ones that would sometimes slip out from her pillows. And they weren't the feathers from common birds, either. The feathers were long, nearly the length of her forearm, and they were the purest white she'd ever seen.

Her mind snapped to it in an instant and she moved to shoot to her feet, ready to hunt down whoever the hell had played such a prank, because there was _no way_ this was really happening.

It'd probably been Gray. She should've known that telling him about the whole guardian angel thing was a mistake. And he was the one she'd deemed trustworthy enough to have the spare key to her apartment, which had obviously been a mistake, too.

But the blonde froze in her charge when she turned to find that there was something blocking her way out of her bed; that she wasn't alone in her apartment.

When the 'signs' had first appeared, she'd known that she may one day wake up to a heavenly sight standing over her.

But instead, she found quite the opposite snoring away on the other side of her bed.

At the sight of horns curling through a mess of pink hair, she did the only thing she could.

She screamed.

* * *

**AN**

**I woke up this morning and decided that I wanted to post something today, so that's part of why this happened...**

**Yes, I know what you're thinking..."McSquidster, why the hell are you starting another story when its been months since you've updated your others?" And yeah, it has been, but there's a whole explanation on my bio, so I'm not gonna bother with explaining it here. **

**Anyway, this was meant to be a sort of teaser for this fic, so its still kind of a rough draft. When I actually start posting the rest of it, I may change this first chapter to suit the rest of the story, or I may leave it as is, who knows. Basically, what I'm saying is that this could change and it'll probably be a while before more chapters go up. I mainly posted this to see if people are interested and to get some motivation, because I'm severely lacking that at the moment. **

**Please let me know your thoughts as the fate of this fic depends on how people respond and if they're interested. **

**Regardless of whether you liked it or not, thanks for reading! **


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